Material or ballast is regularly added to railroad track road beds. To effect such ends, a railroad hopper car is filled with suitable material. The hopper car is rolled along the railroad tracks and the material is discharged through openings provided on the hopper car and directly into position on the tracks. It is known to control the size of the openings with sliding gates which are operable within guide tracks and which cover the openings. The position of the gate relative to the opening is typically controlled by a lever operated by a man walking alongside of the hopper car.
As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, the weight of the material in the hopper car presses against the gate which covers the opening. The considerable weight of the material pressing against the gate makes it difficult to initially open the gate from a closed position. Moreover, the considerable weight acting against the gate makes it difficult to accurately control the size of the opening through which the material is discharged onto the road bed.
During its forced movement from a closed position, the gate often skews in the guide tracks causing the gate to jam. Such jamming problems delay the railroad bed repair work and often results in an inaccurate deposit of material onto the road bed. Inaccurate depositing of materials onto the road bed further requires more labor involvement in correcting such improper deposits.